Ravenloft - Castle of Strahd von Zarovich

[raekess]

This is simply phenomenal!! So well done!

[voodoo]

woot! just revisited this post and still amazed at all the work you put into this project and it looks great!

[milojaggerson]

Greetings, one and all!  Completed the second of Castle Ravenloft's 12 levels.  It is the 1st basement level.  Humbly submitted for your consideration, comments, and viewing pleasure, my friends.  Enjoy!





















I anticipate commencement of the 2nd basement tonight.  The second basement - the crypts and dungeon - is largest physical area of the entire castle.  I hope to finish the second basement as soon as possible.  The group running through CoS received an invitation from Strahd to visit the castle as his dinner guests.  Everything must be ready...

[margaret]

Your players are going to be blown away! What a huge amount of work you have put into this!

[milojaggerson]

Thank you, Margaret. I'm attempting to make the CoS a memorable event for the players as it is for 3 of the 6 players, their first real foray into role playing. So far, they have enjoyed it.

[voodoo]

Ha I see the ton of stuff you have primed in the background as well. Nice!! Exalt for you.

[milojaggerson]

Oct 24, 2016 23:46:40 GMT voodoo said:

Ha I see the ton of stuff you have primed in the background as well. Nice!! Exalt for you.

Thank you, Voodoo!  Trying to be systematic gives me some degree of control over the beast that is this build.  Everything is primed and waiting for tiling.  

Good catch!

[milojaggerson]

Greetings once again from the dungeon depths of Barovia's favorite despot, Count Strahd von Zarovich.  Below are several photographs of the Dungeon half of Castle Ravenloft's lowest level.  Work on the second half of this level, the Crypts, should commence this evening after my civic duties are discharged.  For those of us eligible to do so in these United States, don't forget to vote today.  For those who are ineligible, voting commences tomorrow. 

Enjoy the photographs.








































AND... BONUS CONTENT!!!

A preview of the Crypts (on the same level as the Dungeon above, only crypt-ier). It is all primed and awaits the tile work.  I am ready for the above-ground work on the build.  Fortunately the players are no way ready to meet Strahd here.  Soon, though.  Soon...

[fantascientist]

Is that semicircle a balcony or something? It looks really cool!

[milojaggerson]

Nov 9, 2016 16:46:10 GMT fantascientist said:

Is that semicircle a balcony or something? It looks really cool!

Precisely, fantascientist!  It allows the Baron to look over his "guests" as they are "treated" to his brand of "entertainment"...  The balcony overlooks the torture chamber.  I'm afraid CoS would not receive a favorable rating from Amnesty International.  Strahd is not a nice guy.

The balcony is hot glue that has been molded in a Mod-Podge silicon mold of a fleur-de-lis chain. I made duplicate copies to be forward-facing and rearward-facing, then hot glued them together with a toothpick cut to length for the posts.  Once that cooled, I glued the rail to the top of the chain, then I held the banister in place at each point while applying hot glue to hold the toothpicks to the floor.  I want to paint a bit of gray and white on the fleur-de-lis, and should probably have done that already.  I suppose I will need to be careful when I paint the balusters. 

I will also confess that at some point during the build phase I realized the Z-scale was off for my model, so the relative heights are not quite right.  I was already far enough into the project that I decided, for consistency's sake (and that fact that I am too lazy to fix it) to keep the same scale that I started with through out.  So, my vertical projections are a bit off by about one fifth the size.  If I recall, I think the balcony should be  about 10' to scale at the floors, but as they are, it is only about 2 or 3 feet.  This, the second basement - Dungeon and Crypts, is the level where that choice is the most obvious.  That said, most people would not recognize it without the actual map from the module. 

[milojaggerson]

Greetings, my long-suffering and faithful friends.  The second basement for the Baron's castle is now complete!  Strahd's crypt and catacombs is finally tiled.  Your satisfaction is guaranteed, or double your doubloons back.  Enjoy the photographs.


















Oops!  I forgot the crypt doors.  We'll need to go around again!

















So that is twice around the table.  

Thought you would like a preview of what could happen, so I set three members of one of the two groups I'm currently running through CoS.  This is a mock journey into the castle's lowest depths.  Here we find Durrim the Human priest, Captain the Warforged, and Morak the Aarakocra wandering the catacombs with righteous purpose.  Let us see what becomes of them...



Hmmm...  Lighting is a bit off from the camera flash.  Even still, I don't think I would willingly walk through all the bat guano found piled in the deep, dank recesses of a haunted castle's burial chamber.  Just doesn't seem the sensible thing to do...



But sensible or not, it is what heroes do.  Pity the fools!



So many doors left unopened.  How much treasure is being left behind?  They must be on a mission...



"Shhh... The foul lord of the land must be near.  The floor's pattern is different!"



"Ah! Surely this is Strahd's resting place.  Let us destroy him where he lays!"



"Behold the demon's resting chamber!  Let us dispatch him now!"



"Nope!  We didn't sign on for this!!!"  Our heroes turn tail when confronted by...



They are chased from the crypt, down the main gallery.  But chased by what, a black, billowing mass?




"Come back! I only want to have a drink with you!"



"Sorry, we're not thirsty!"

-----
This is just a glimpse into what could be...  We'll soon see!

[margaret]

Fabulous to see all your work coming together! Looks like you may need to put another leaf in the table though...

[milojaggerson]

Thank you, Margaret. This is the largest of all the levels and actually takes two tables to lay the entire floor plan out. Our gaming table (pictured in some of the photos) is long enough to hold this portion of the level, but regrettably its width makes sitting with character sheets in front of the players difficult. I would like another four feet width or so of space, but isn't going to happen any time soon. First world problems...

[sgtslag]

If you auction the whole Castle off on e-Bay, you must provide us with a link, so we can watch the numbers click by... This thing is monstrous, in so many ways! I really do wonder what it could fetch (never mind the shipping, I just wonder what the selling price would be!).

Have you thought of taking it to conventions? My Steading of the Hill Giants is too much for just a home game. I knew that going into it, which is how I justified what construction I did (nothing compared to your build!).  This is too good, too much work, for just a couple of home games.  Besides it would make you a 'rock star' at any convention you brought it to!  People would flock to play in it, or even just to watch.  Castle Strahd is a classic, for very good reasons, and it has a long, and deserved, superb reputation.  I, for one, would love to play in it, for numerous reasons, beyond just the eye candy.  Cheers!

[milojaggerson]

Sgtslag, I have thought about what I would do with the build after it is finished, and I've run it a few times. I know that it is "just a thing", but I'm not sure if it were finished how much it would bring at auction. Right now I feel "not enough" is the answer.

I would consider taking the build to Archon, a local convention here in the St. Louis area, but I would really have to make some changes to have a group of players able to assault the castle directly. I am so enamored with the entire CoS module, though! I have a lot of work put into preparing the adventure areas around Strahd's mighty fortress - a number of maps printed and assembled. There are a number of side-projects I want to build for the module as well: Argynvostholt and the Amber Temple. I have some ideas about those two areas particularly, either to 3D print dungeon tiles for those areas or make something ala AJ's technique utilizing Mike Schley's maps. That latter thought will probably be the quickest way to produce those areas. Oh! I almost forgot, I want to build Fat Dragon's buildings also. Too much to do, too little time. Gotta curb my ambition, and watch were I spend my time...

[milojaggerson]

Greetings! 

It has been quite a while for me since I posted anything here - Largely because pictures disappear, and I can't figure out how to get the photos to stick around  .  Check these links for photos at Imgur for both Castle Ravenloft and for Argynvostholt.  Enjoy!

[SpielMeisterKev!]

Howdy,

What site was hosting your original WIP photos?

Please advise,
Kev!

[milojaggerson]

I posted many pictures years ago, but I think I was posting from Facebook originally. Then I switched to Photobucket for a bit. I haven't found a good solution.

Any ideas? I'd like to post the photos here without using other photo-storage sites. I guess Imgur will hold them forever, but linking a number of photos becomes unwieldy.

Thanks!

[ivenbach]

Is that a mandolin I spy in the background of one of your photos? Do you use it to serenade your guests during gaming interludes?

[SpielMeisterKev!]

Howdy,

Feb 18, 2018 19:59:43 GMT milojaggerson said:

I think Facebook originally. I guess Imgur will hold them forever, but linking a number of photos becomes unwieldy.

I would like to checkout any photos you still have on Facebook... I am Kevin Watts, my profile has a man-eating plant image from farmvile. Send me a friend request. I was unsuccessful in locating you there.

Imgur is great once you get the hang of it. I generally link single pics, but you can link to albums as well.

The Create Post bbcode tab is your friend.

Here is my method...

1) go to images on Imgur, and click the image.
2) On the right should be various links, copy the direct link.

3) in the Forum Create Post bbcode tab, click the link button(looks like a page in front of the earth).
4) paste in the direct link for the URL, click the Create Link button.
5) select the work "link" in the bbcode text, and click the image button(looks like a tiny landscape).
6) paste in the direct link for the Image URL, optionally change the alt text, click the Insert Image button.

7) select the Create Post Preview tab to double check it looks correct.

You can substitute a link to an Imgur album for the link step above, then clicking the image will take you to the album.

here is an example...



select the BBCode tab to see it...

I hope this helps,
Kev!